


Fate

by writteninblood



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anything Goes In Gotham, Cheese, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Murder Husbands, Psychopaths In Love, Season/Series 01, Season/Series 03, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 08:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8660026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writteninblood/pseuds/writteninblood
Summary: This work is intended to take place some time between episode 11 and the end of season 3. It's intended as a fix-it alternative to what they're probably going to give us. It's extremely fluffy and cheesy but I felt like I needed to write something with a more hopeful outlook after the last few episodes. Also wanted to say thank you for the positive feedback on 'Fantasy', it was my first fic in any fandom and I'm definitely encouraged to write more! Enjoy!





	

**Author's Note:**

> This work is intended to take place some time between episode 11 and the end of season 3. It's intended as a fix-it alternative to what they're probably going to give us. It's extremely fluffy and cheesy but I felt like I needed to write something with a more hopeful outlook after the last few episodes. Also wanted to say thank you for the positive feedback on 'Fantasy', it was my first fic in any fandom and I'm definitely encouraged to write more! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Oswald is bored by the party. It is one of the grandest affairs that the Gotham society calendar has to offer, but all the sparkle has gone out of these events since Ed left. He enjoyed always having Ed close by to see how people clamoured to be seen speaking with the him. Him being their mayor, their saviour, the one who would make Gotham safe again. Now he’s not there to see Oswald’s elevated status and how all of the socialites want their photo taken with Oswald for the fashion and gossip magazines. And now he takes no joy in the forced niceties, in the polite mingling with Gotham’s most rich and powerful. It’s all become just a ridiculous showpiece, something he has to do to maintain his image and power. He realises with a jolt that he can’t actually remember what this evening is for. Did his new chief of staff tell him? Probably not. _That man is a complete and utter cretin._

As he makes his way through the crowd, looking for a waiter with champagne flutes, a familiar profile catches his eye. But as fast as it appeared, it’s gone. He looks around again, but sees nothing. _Wonderful, now I am imagining that he is here. And to think I told him he was the unhealthy one_ Oswald thinks to himself. He spends another couple of minutes looking for champagne before he finally decides he’s made his presence known enough for one evening. He looks around and motions to Victor that he’s leaving. Victor nods and hurries off to make sure the car is brought around. 

Oswald begins to make his way up one side of the grand staircase that leads to the main entrance. As he does so he notices someone begin to do the same on the other side. The figure is tall, and repeatedly glancing his way, as if to match their progress with his. Oswald is a little tipsy, but knows there is something familiar about what’s happening. Like he’s lived it before. 

He looks down to concentrate on his steps as he limps awkwardly upwards, one arm on the bannister and the other on his cane. He stops halfway up to rest his bad leg for a moment, and looks across to the opposite staircase. The figure has stopped too. It’s too dim to discern anything other than that the other person is tall. And that they appear to be waiting for him to continue. 

Oswald can’t shake off the feeling that something is aligning here, that there’s a symmetry to what’s happening. 

He eventually reaches the top of the stairs, and the figure steps into the light of the chandelier as they meet in the middle. Oswald’s heart just about stops. 

‘Can I help you?’ Ed asks.

And that’s when it all clicks into place. Their first meeting at the GCPD had been so very much like this. Meeting in the middle, amidst the chaos. Realisation complete, Oswald looks at Ed. _Really_ looks at him. 

Something is different about him. There’s an air about Ed that wasn’t there before. He’s holding himself with surety and confidence, two traits that he never fully owned the entire time Oswald knew him. Back then, before they broke each other’s hearts. That time they both spent living at the mansion seems much longer than just a few months ago. 

He’s wearing a deep green suit with maroon coloured lapels and a matching mask across his eyes. The endearing glasses are gone. They belong to an Ed that no longer exists. Something about that fills Oswald with grief. That man was his chief of staff, the one who would have done anything for him, the one who would push his glasses up his nose awkwardly when he had to tell Oswald he’d failed to fully accomplish something. Oswald will mourn for the Ed he used to know. But there’s no mistaking that chin dimple, those soft brown eyes and that slicked back hair. It’s still Edward Nygma, except now he’s flourished and is done becoming. He’s a powerful man in his own right. He doesn’t belong with Oswald any more. 

Oswald realises he should say something, but he doesn’t trust himself to speak. That too reminds him of another time, when if he could have summoned the courage to say what he needed to, things could have been so very different. But he supposes that whatever might have happened, they would have always ended up here. He has a feeling. Something Ed once suggested. Fate.

Unsure of what to say, Oswald decides the safest path is closing off and exiting the situation as soon as possible. 

‘I was just leaving.’

Edward purses his lips thoughtfully before speaking.

‘You will always find me in the past. I can be created in the present, But the future can never taint me. What am I?’

‘History.’ Oswald says immediately. After a time of annoyance, answering Ed’s riddles became second nature. Ed had loved trying to stump him. Oswald had loved proving they were on an equal playing field. 

Ed smiles, and it really is quite lovely. Oswald wonders that he never really noticed that before. So conceited was he in trying to get Ed to love him, for the satisfaction of winning, for their combined power, that he didn’t notice the little things. All of the little things that made Ed exquisite.

‘Correct!’ he beams.

It’s such a throwback that it hurts his heart. He doesn’t understand why people rave about being in love. It’s made a mockery of him, made him weak. And to put it crudely, it’s done nothing except make him feel like shit.

Oswald turns to go, but Ed places a hand on his chest.

‘We’ll always have that. You and I.’

Oswald blinks up at him.

‘History. We have both made each other stronger, I see that now. All the things we have done, have led us to become the most powerful versions of ourselves. You set me free, Oswald.’ Ed takes his gloved hand away from Oswald’s chest and moves it up to cup his cheek, moving his thumb back and forth. ‘Thank you.’

Oswald is completely taken aback. Of all the ways he imagined their paths crossing again, this is definitely not one of them. And there were many nights where he sat alone by the fire, glass of whiskey in hand, imagining the various ways in which Ed would return and kill him. He had been convinced that if Ed returned to him, it would be to exact his revenge. Perhaps he still would. Perhaps he was trying to lure Oswald into a false sense of security. Though that seemed like a rather obvious play for a man like Edward Nygma. Better to remove himself from the situation now. He’d spent a long time since Ed left building up the walls around himself. One could only take so much before completely shutting off. Better off unencumbered. 

‘My car is waiting.’ 

And with that he determinedly walks away and doesn’t look back.

\---

The mansion seems so huge and like it’s full of ghosts, and Oswald thinks it probably is. He isn’t frightened though. Sometimes he thinks he catches a glimpse of his wandering father in his night cap and gown, and it comforts him. But nothing gives him more solace than the feeling of having his mother by his side, or wrapped around him. He feels it sometimes. Thinks he can smell her perfume. He wonders what she would say about everything that transpired between him and Ed. Would she have approved of his choice? Would she have been disappointed with the way Oswald pursued him? Oswald thinks that she would have come to like Ed, had she still been here. Ed always spoke of her with such kindness and respect, despite the fact he never met her. It’s another thing that makes him bitter, that his dear mother never had anyone other than Oswald treat her with the respect she deserved. Ed would have done that. He always had impeccable manners.

He’s sitting in his favourite spot by the fire, whiskey in hand. He closes his eyes for a moment and imagines she’s there. _My little Cobblepot. You look so sad! Don’t be sad. You are beautiful, and clever, and handsome. Love will come to you, my dearest little Oswald._

Oswald shakes his head, blinking back tears. ‘I do not think it will, mother. I have done too much and been too selfish.’ Oswald finishes his whiskey, grimacing slightly at the pain the stab wound in his shoulder causes him each time he moves his right arm. Just another physical reminder of who he is. ‘For as long as I live in this wretched world, the only one that will have truly loved me will have been you.’

‘Now, that’s not true.’

Oswald drops his glass in shock as he turns around to follow the direction of the voice.

Ed is standing in the middle of the room, his gloved fingers flexing at his sides. 

‘How did you get in here?’

‘There’s always a way in or out Oswald, especially in a place as huge as this. I used to live here, remember. I know all its secrets.’

Ed’s voice is like pebbles on a beach being dragged back into the ocean by the waves. It’s different and yet the same, and it’s like music to Oswald’s ears. Ed starts to approach the chair, and Oswald tenses. This chair has been the setting for several changes in their relationship. But the one he will always remember will be the first, when Ed unknowingly echoed the words of his mother. Oswald has often wondered about that. Perhaps Gertrude visited Ed in a dream. Perhaps he saw her around the mansion when he lived there too. It seems to be too much of a coincidence. But he will mostly remember it because that’s when his feelings for Ed finally crystalized. He remembers how beautiful it felt, how he couldn’t stop smiling. Such a pure and joyful feeling, so much light after living most of his life in the dark. He’d learned his lesson. Love is lethal. Love is not worth the price.

Ed sits down on the side where he always sat. Oswald eyes him wearily. 

‘If I was going to kill you Oswald, I would have already done so.’ Ed looks at Oswald’s shoulder, as if he could see through the clothes to the scar he put there. ‘Besides, I think I’ve done enough.’ His eyes meet Oswald’s again, and holds his gaze. 

‘I fell in love with you Oswald. I cannot pinpoint exactly when it happened. But it did, and I wanted to prove my worth to you, build a connection with you, in the hope that in time you might come to feel the same. I thought that morning, in the office, you were going to tell me you did. And then you didn’t, and I thought, stupid Edward Nygma, thinking the _Penguin_ would show any interest in _you!_ And so, I tried to move on, Oswald. And then they sent _her_ , and it all seemed too easy. I should have seen through it all, but … there is no use in going over all that again. They tried to come between us, because together we are too powerful. But together, we are each other’s weakness, and they will always use that against us. We can’t ever be together again, Oswald.’

Something inside Oswald snaps. Ed leaving the first time was painful enough (with the addition of an actual painful bloody wound), but did he really come into Oswald’s home just to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear for such a long time, before destroying it all again?

‘I have already made my peace with that, Ed. If that is all you have to say, I would appreciate it if you left now, and didn’t come back.’

‘That’s not all.’ Ed says. ‘Our paths are always going to be entwined, Oswald. I think you sense that too. It’s fate.’ Ed pauses to take off his mask. Oswald gets the feeling that he is, and will be, the only person who gets to see Ed like this. Without the glasses, and without the mask, he really is laid bare. Nothing to hide behind. 

‘While I cannot come back here to always be with you, we can still help each other.’ He leans over to cover one of Oswald’s hands with one of his own. ‘And if you are willing, I would like to be yours. In secret. We are Gotham’s ‘ubervillains,’ and I think we can have whatever we want. If anyone finds out, we’ll just kill them.’ 

Ed’s usage of the word ‘ubervillains’ almost gets a smirk out of Oswald, who can’t quite believe what he’s hearing; what Ed is proposing. A secret relationship? A secret alliance? Paths fated to be entwined…

_You have so much love to give, my dearest child. You have such a big heart._

After everything, after all the grief and pain that life has brought him, Oswald doesn’t know if he has it in him to lay his heart on the line again. But if everything he’s been through has taught him one thing, it’s that he needs to love less selfishly, and to endeavor to be worthy of the love he’s being offered, as Ed seems to be offering right now. 

_When you find it, run to it._

Oswald moves his hand from under Ed’s, who for a moment looks crestfallen and ready to leave. But then he grabs that hand, and interlocks his fingers with Ed’s, squeezing them tightly. The smile on Ed’s face and the way his eyes light up makes Oswald smile too. And then they’re leaning in, and it’s everything that botched first moment should have been. But there’s no hug here and their lips meet, both of them inhaling sharply through their noses at the gravity of the moment, the electricity in the air. It’s Oswald’s first kiss, so he lets Ed lead the way. After a couple of chaste kisses, Ed moves back in, but this time opens his mouth and slides his tongue into Oswald’s, who lets out a moan, utterly overcome by sensation. The leather of Ed’s gloves is moving across his face, and then into his hair. Oswald runs a hand over Ed’s knee and upwards, and Ed is panting between kisses. 

They spend hours like that, simply making out on the couch, touching each other but not getting too heavy. Affection and reassurance are the overruling needs here, not sexual gratification, although there is a lot of heat between them. Goodness knows, when Oswald goes to bed he won’t be sleeping for a little while.

Light is starting to seep into the room. It reminds him of that morning, with the rays of light shining in through the windows, where he felt like he could take on the world. He’s beginning to feel like that again. They finally part, and Ed rests his forehead against Oswald’s. It’s mutually unspoken between them that Ed needs to leave, because they can’t be seen together. 

‘What is yours but you can’t actually hold?’

Oswald takes in an amused breath, of course Ed would want to leave on a riddle. It’s such an ambiguous riddle there could be any number of answers, although he thinks he knows the right one. But he instead decides to give Ed, the riddle man, the satisfaction of telling him. 

‘Do you give up?’ Ed’s smile is so bright, Oswald simply nods.

Ed takes one of Oswald’s hands and lays it on his chest. 

‘My heart.’

It’s so corny, but then, Edward Nygma always has been something of a hopeless romantic. Oswald would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy it. 

The sound of crockery clattering together as the maids begin to prepare his breakfast jolts them both out of the moment. For Oswald it feels bittersweet, that Ed can’t stay. That he can’t share his bed, then have breakfast or brunch with him later on. That they can’t enjoy the domestic harmony they had previously had together. 

Ed retrieves his mask from the chair behind him and slots it into place. He smiles, that tender smile that doesn't belong to his new persona. Then he's getting up and making his way to the window. He opens it and turns back to Oswald. 

‘We’ll see each other again sooner than you think.’ He climbs up onto the ledge. 

‘Until then, Riddler.’

Ed grins and then jumps.


End file.
